[Hardware] Intel Sapphire Rapids Xeon Scalable CPU’s Volume Ramp Rumored For 2023, To Feature DDR5-4800 & PCIe Gen 5.0 Support

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Intel's next-generation Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPU family is expected to be unveiled by the second half of next year but won't see a volume launch till 2023 as revealed in a leaked slide posted over at Chiphell Forums (via HXL). Volume Ramp of Intel's Next-Gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon SP CPU Family Not Expected Till 2023, Alleges Rumor The slide shows Intel's upcoming Xeon CPU families which include the recently launched Cooper Lake-SP along with the upcoming Ice Lake-SP & Sapphire Rapids-SP lineups. Intel was expected to launch its Ice Lake-SP processors this year but they have slipped the 2020 launch schedule & will now be launching in the first half of 2021. However, knowing Intel's 10nm ramp, we cannot say for sure if Ice Lake-SP will be available in full or partial volume. Intel’s Entry-Level Xe Discrete Graphics Card Shows Up in Geekbench, Features 1024 Cores, 1.4 GHz Clocks & 3 GB Memory Intel's existing roadmap also showed Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPU family for 2021 but based on Ice Lake-SP's delay, we should expect the Sapphire Rapids family to be moved back too. Also while we don't exactly know the process node which Intel is going to use to fabricate Sapphire Rapid chips, we do know that it will be something better than the 10nm+ process node which Ice Lake-SP uses. We can expect Intel to use its 10nm SuperFin process node, similar to the Tiger Lake mobility CPU lineup, for its next-generation Xeon lineup. However, Tiger Lake and Sapphire Rapids are entirely different products.There are rumors that Sapphire Rapids might be using a chiplet design which will allow for better yields than going for a monolithic design that Ice Lake-SP and older Xeon CPUs have utilized. Even still, we can't expect yields to be that great for an enhanced node with brand new architecture. Ice Lake-SP has already been delayed several times and mostly due to 10nm+ yields so expect a similar case with Sapphire Rapids on 10nm SuperFin. Intel will also be moving several product lines to 10nm during 2021-2022 which include Alder Lake for desktops, Tiger Lake for mobility & Ice Lake-SP for servers which would put stress on its 10nm fabs.

 

 

The 10nm SuperFin based Sapphire Rapids is expected to make use of a next-generation CPU architecture which should either be Willow Cove or Golden Cove based. The Sapphire Rapids lineup will make use of 8 channel DDR5 memory with speeds of up to 4800 MHz and support PCIe Gen 5.0 on the Eagle Stream platform. The Eagle Stream platform will also introduce the LGA 4677 socket which will be replacing the LGA 4189 socket for Intel's upcoming Whitley platform which would house Cooper Lake-SP and Ice Lake-SP processors. The Sapphire Rapids core counts are expected to reach up to 48 cores (<200W) in single and dual-socket platforms while the 4S/8S platforms are expected to make use of 32 core parts with over 200W TDPs. We can see higher core counts and the higher TDPs could represent higher clocks on the 10nm process node but that's mere speculation at this point in time.The platform would be competing against AMD's Zen 4 based EPYC Genoa lineup which would also be moving to a newer platform known as SP5. AMD has promised new memory along with new capabilities for the Genoa lineup which would include support for DDR5, PCIe 5.0, and more. We don't know what other features would the new lineup include but Intel is doing the same with 8-channel DDR5 support & a new interconnect such as CXL for the Eagle Stream platform. Intel is also going to utilize its 3rd Gen DC Persistent memory solution known as Crow Pass which will be a major selling point of the Sapphire Rapids and Eagle Stream Xeon platform. Intel plans to tackle AMD EPYC in two key departments with Sapphire Rapids, one being increased per core output (performance) and decreased TCO$ per core.Currently, AMD's EPYC CPUs demolish Intel in terms of performance per watt, a number of cores/threads, feature set, and total cost of operation with major players in the server segment switching their cloud datacenters to AMD's EPYC CPUs. It remains to be seen if Intel can make a complete or even a partial recovery of its Xeon segment with Sapphire Rapids. For now, Intel is focusing on a launch for its Sapphire Rapids Xeon Scalable family in 2021.